January 13, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) led their colleagues in filing an amicus brief in Watson v. Republican National Committee, a landmark mail-in voting case that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court later this year.
In 2024, the Republican National Committee (RNC) challenged a Mississippi law that allows ballots postmarked by election day to be received up to five days after election day, arguing that this law violates federal law setting the timing of elections. If the 5th Circuit’s ruling is affirmed by the Supreme Court, vote-by-mail in more than a dozen states — including California and Oregon — will be thrown into disarray as huge numbers of voters, particularly rural, military, and overseas voters, could be disenfranchised.
“Despite Trump and Republicans’ baseless attacks, vote-by-mail remains one of the most effective and secure ways to make sure every eligible citizen can make their voice heard — especially for servicemembers, rural voters, and Americans living overseas,” said Senator Padilla. “We should be making it easier for Americans to vote, not bowing to Donald Trump’s flagrant attempts to suppress voting rights to cling to power. We are urging the Court to reject this blatant interference with California and other states’ election laws that protect Americans’ fundamental right to vote.”
“Republicans will stop at nothing in their crusade against vote-by-mail because they’re afraid they can’t win elections on their own merits,” said Senator Wyden. “The Supreme Court needs to see this case for what it really is: a thinly-veiled attempt at full blown voter suppression by Donald Trump and his far-right fan club. I’m all in to protect the fundamental rights of every American to make their voice heard on election day.”
The amicus brief filing comes just days after the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to suppress mail-in voting. Closures and consolidation of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) facilities as well as a recent rule change by USPS will result in mail less frequently being postmarked on the day it is received. As a result, mail-in ballots received by the USPS near or on election day could receive a delayed postmark and be invalidated.
“Many states, including Oregon, have adopted sensible policies to allow mail-in-ballots to be counted so long as they are postmarked no later than Election Day,” wrote the Senators. “The Fifth Circuit’s ruling undermines the viability of these laws and threatens the disenfranchisement of voters, especially those living abroad or in rural areas.”
Padilla and Wyden were joined by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Mark Warner (D-Va.) in filing the amicus brief.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight over federal elections, Senator Padilla has led the charge opposing President Trump’s attempts to restrict the right to vote across the country, including his attacks on vote-by-mail. A day after the November 2025 elections, Padilla led a floor block sounding the alarm on the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to rig election rules one year out from the 2026 midterms. Last October, Padilla and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio-03) announced the Voter Purge Protection Act to prevent the Trump Administration’s voter purge efforts, including by prohibiting the removal of individuals from the voter rolls due to changes in residence or not voting in previous elections. Padilla also warned that Trump may declare an election-related national emergency after the White House alarmingly hired former “Stop the Steal” and Trump campaign lawyer Kurt Olsen as a “special government employee” to “investigate” the 2020 election again, five years later.
Before coming to the Senate, Padilla established automatic and same-day voter registration, upgraded California’s voting systems to meet higher security standards, and expanded mail-in and in-person early voting as the chief elections officer for the most populous state in the nation. Full text of the amicus brief is available here.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla
